The renaissance of suburban mortgages: Russians are massively buying up private houses

Since April, experts have recorded a trend towards cheaper private homes. At the beginning of the summer, even such popular regions for their purchase as the Moscow Region, Krasnodar Territory and Crimea were “blown away”. As Pavel Lutsenko, CEO of the World of Apartments portal, noted, in the second quarter in 23 regions out of 84 private households rose in price, and in 61 regions they fell in price. Most of all, they added to the price in the North Caucasus, Siberia and Primorye. Prices fell the most in Crimea (-19.7%), Ulyanovsk (-17.5%), Sverdlovsk (-17%), Novosibirsk (-16%), Omsk (-14.4%), Ryazan (-14%) .3%), Kostroma (-14%) regions, Perm region (-14%), Chelyabinsk (-13.8%) and Penza (-13.3%) regions. In the Moscow region, home ownership fell on average by 7.6%, to 14.3 million rubles, in the Leningrad region – by 2.6%, to 9.7 million. like an apartment, therefore, in a crisis caused by the consequences of a military special operation, people prefer to refuse such purchases and wait. The supply of houses in the second quarter increased by 28% compared to last year, demand fell by 15%,” the analyst added.

According to Rosstat, in the first 6 months of this year, 52.6 million sq. m of housing, of which citizens built 32.9 million “squares” in the private sector (61% more than a year ago). Those. in the first half of the year, individual housing construction (IZHS) accounted for almost 2/3 of housing commissioning in the country.

As Aleksey Kosyakov, deputy chairman of the board of DOM.RF bank, told MK, the interest of clients in houses under construction and ready (from developers) is traditionally higher than in the secondary market. This is due to lower ownership risks, less depreciation and higher liquidity. It is no coincidence that the difference between the average market rates for suburban mortgages is usually 1.5-3% higher than for housing loans for the purchase of new buildings or ready-made apartments.

It should be noted that there is little competition in the IZHS lending market today. Many banks do not issue out-of-town mortgages at all. The fact is that, from the point of view of financiers, a private house is less liquid collateral than an apartment. And if the borrower has problems repaying a loan to buy or build a house, such collateral will not be easy to realize in a short time. It is no coincidence that the market rate under the bank’s basic program for the purchase of an apartment is usually 1-3 percentage points lower than for the purchase of suburban real estate. Yes, and the size of the down payment for a suburban mortgage is higher.

It is no secret that the main “engine” of suburban mortgages are preferential lending programs with state support. Currently, banks issue “Preferential mortgage with state support” (rate from 6.3%), “Family” – from 5.1%, under the program for IT employees – from 4.3%, under the “Far East” – from 1 %. Under the terms of state programs, the maximum loan amount is 12 million rubles. (for IT mortgages – 18 million rubles). Initial payment – from 15%. In addition, there is also “Rural mortgage” at 3%.

From May 31, a preferential mortgage for building a house on your own started (minimum rate from 6.3%). Prior to the launch of the “pilot”, a preferential mortgage for the construction of a private house could only be taken with the involvement of a contractor – a professional company.

According to Kosyakov, since the beginning of 2022, the bank’s clients have taken out the most loans for individual housing construction under the Family Mortgage (53%). The next most popular is “Preferential mortgage with state support”, almost every fourth borrower took advantage of it. Another 5% of clients received IT mortgage financing for individual housing construction.

More often than others, suburban mortgages, according to experts interviewed by MK, are taken by residents of the Moscow region, Krasnodar Territory, Leningrad, Tyumen, Sverdlovsk, Nizhny Novgorod and Novosibirsk regions, Tatarstan and Bashkiria. “Today, the demand for the purchase of individual residential buildings on a mortgage is provided mainly by those who work remotely and prefer to live in a more environmentally friendly environment outside the city limits,” Tatyana Chernysheva, head of the PSB mortgage sales department, told MK.

— About 60% of clients who have taken out a mortgage for individual housing construction in our bank are married, and about half of them have children, so the demand for “Family Mortgage” is growing. The average age of a borrower who has issued a mortgage for the construction of individual housing is about 38 years old, more than 80% with higher education, – said Alexey Kosyakov. – Most borrowers prefer frame houses (about 35% of loans), wooden construction accounts for about 25%, gas blocks – 15%, another 20% is the share of houses made of mixed types of walls. In transactions executed by the bank, houses on a pile foundation prevail (about 40% of loans issued), approximately 35% are built on a strip foundation, 20% – on reinforced concrete.

The requirements for borrowers purchasing suburban real estate are similar to the requirements for lending for the purchase of apartments. However, in the IZHS segment, banks often impose additional requirements. In PSB, for example, the main condition for the approval of a mortgage loan is the location of the acquired land and a house in a village with a developed infrastructure with an official permit for individual residential development. The purchased house must have the status of a residential building, all necessary communications must be carried out to it. If the borrower acquires a land plot on a mortgage, then when building a house on his own, he needs to correctly calculate not only the total amount of all costs, but also meet the deadlines specified in the contract for construction. Otherwise, the interest rate on the loan may increase.

According to the VTsIOM poll published in early July, 77% of Russians consider the purchase of residential real estate to be the most profitable investment. Of these, about 21% would like to purchase land.

As shown by the results of a study conducted by Post-Bank, 68% of Russians surveyed do not currently own a country house, while most of them (82%) dream of having one. At the same time, 71% of respondents plan to use credit funds to buy or build a house.

“In the near future, the number of clients wishing to change their standard apartment for comfortable houses outside the city will grow. This trend will be affected by the next easing of lending conditions and further implementation of seasonal demand,” Evgeny Dyachkin, Vice President, Deputy Head of the Retail Business Department at VTB, is sure.

Thus, interest in suburban mortgages will grow. Moreover, the prices for metal, cement and many other building materials, together with the average prices for country houses, will most likely continue to decline until mid-autumn.